Re: B. B. Mackey Books is 25 Years Old this month!

**J* E* M* S* <h*@sbcglobal.net>**

Congratulations, Betty. Couldn't happen to a nicer person that's for sure, and it symbolizes your hard work and forward thinking. Best wishes for 25 more.

jems

On Nov 17, 2011, at 4:23 PM, Betty Mackey wrote:

B. B. Mackey Books Celebrates 25 Years of Garden Publishing

In 1986, twenty five years ago this month, I innocently ventured into 
publishing--vanity publishing. I had been invited by garden guru Marian Van 
Atta ("Florida's Mother Nature") to attend an authors' party and book 
festival with her in central Florida, where I then lived. Would I be the 
only non-author present?

My first book, "A Cutting Garden for Florida," born in a hurry, wasn't 
finished in time for the author party but at least I had flyers. I did the 
typesetting on a Commodore 64 computer (remember those?) with a "Write Now" 
cartridge and a very noisy daisy wheel printer plus my own line drawings. 
When the book came out I learned that I was supposed to talk to garden clubs 
and I also got onto a morning talk show in Orlando. I allowed chapters of 
the book to be serialized in a Gannett chain paper in return for including 
ordering info. Soon people were sending me checks and I was hooked. My 
crowning achievement? I was invited to plant a cutting garden at beautiful 
Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, and a few months later I saw a wedding 
party having their pictures taken there in front of my long border of big 
pale yellow sunflowers and other annuals.

Now it is twenty five years later and B. B. Mackey Books publishes a number 
of garden books including some authored by members of GWL: Duane Campbell, 
Nellie Neal, and (coming soon), Betty Earl. I no longer live in Florida but 
I work with author Monica Brandies who does.

I have seen huge changes in garden publishing in the 25 years since I 
ventured in. In the early 'nineties there was a boom in glossy garden books. 
A few years later the publishers of those books were acquired by huge 
conglomerates interested in best sellers that could be movies, and stopped 
doing garden titles. Startups and mom-and-pops suddenly had the field to 
themselves.

Celebrating and looking back, I am having a big book sale at 
http://www.mackeybooks.com/asale1.html If you blog or write a column, it's a 
great time to review books as holiday gift suggestions, so let me know if 
you'd like a review copy of something I offer.  Your readers can take 
advantage of the sale which lasts from today through December 16, 2011.

For info or a review copy, write to me off list at betty@mackeybooks.com .

To see details of all the books, go to my website home page, 
www.mackeybooks.com, and navigate from there. Cheers and thanks!

Betty Mackey, Publisher

B. B. Mackey Books

P. O. Box 475

Wayne, PA 19087

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____________________
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Director, Garden Writers Association
hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net
http://hoosiergardener.com
Phone: (317) 251.3261
P.O. Box 20310
Indianapolis, IN 46220-0310
Co-author, Indiana Gardener's Guide
Author, The Visitor's Guide to American Gardens

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For GWL website and Wiki, go to
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